SCIENTOLOGY AND SIEZURES

Critics of Scientology have long known that the pseudo-religion, based on Hubbard’s Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, discourages adherents from seeking medical help for problems they deem “psychosomatic.” That old line about it being all in your head forms the basis of Scientology’s weird belief system; most problems, even if they manifest themselves physically, are spiritual in nature, stemming from the patient’s “reactive mind.” Even aspirin is deemed a mood-altering drug to be avoided — too bad if you take it to prevent blood clots.

Hence the controversy over Jett Travolta‘s apparent death from a head injury, likely incurred after he suffered a seizure in the Bahamas condo where the Travolta family and their two nannies were staying. John Travolta and Kelly Preston have long claimed Jett developed Kawasaki disease after exposure at a young age to carpet-cleaning chemicals, which resulted in seizures, a claim medical experts find unlikely. At the time of his death, he was under the care of Jeff Kathrein, a wedding photographer whose main qualification for the nanny post seemed to be a course he completed in Scientology and a kiss he shared with Travolta.

With headlines around the world suggesting John Travolta’s son Jett could have been saved with anti-seizure drugs – a former Scientologist, and epileptic, has told LIVENEWS.com.au how she was ordered off her medication.

Tory Christman, who reached the upper echelons of the church, claims she was told to stop taking the drugs by an unqualified medical official, which led to her seizures returning and to her knocking her teeth out in the bath.

“It was a nightmare,” said Christman.

“I had grand mal seizures, I fell in the bathtub just like Jett did, and knocked out my front teeth. It was really bad. I was losing my memory.”(SOURCE)

Jett had been taking Depakote, an anti-seizure medication, but had to stop it because of liver damage. Liver damage from Depakote is rare; more recently, the FDA has been concerned about its link to suicidal thoughts — exactly the kind of condition Scientologists they believe they can treat through the religious coursework they call “auditing.”

According to the Church of Scientology, people with disabilities like autism are classified as “degraded” and capable of curing themselves by working harder on the church’s teachings.

John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston repeatedly denied speculation that their son exhibited autistic symptoms.

Instead, they blamed their son’s problems on a bout with Kawasaki syndrome as a toddler. The rare disease is characterized by high fever, skin rash and swelling of the lymph nodes. Left untreated the, illness can cause heart and circulation problems later in life.

Police believe a seizure led to Jett’s fatal fall. The teen was found in a bathroom of the family’s Bahamas vacation home Friday morning with a broken nose and smashed skull, cops said.

“The Travoltas as Scientologists – and very prominent Scientologists – would never consult a doctor to deal with the treatment of autism,” said Rick Ross, a leading authority on the church.

“This child lived out his life without ever being evaluated or treated, in my opinion. The sad thing is, perhaps he could have been helped.”

Jett’s parents claimed to have treated his Kawasaki symptoms with a Scientology-prescribed course of “detoxification” – a regimen of diet and saunas that the church claims is purifying, but which Kawasaki specialist Dr. Adrianna Tremoulet has never heard of.

“I am not familiar with that therapy,” she said yesterday. Standard treatment includes blood transfusions.

All medication – including anti-seizure drugs – are discouraged by the church, which believes drugs stockpile in the body over time and damage it, experts on the church said.

Travolta’s actor buddyTom Cruise has made the church’s stance infamous through his wildly unpopular tour of the talk shows in which he tried to advance Scientology’s anti-pyschiatry views. His badgering of NBC’s Matt Lauer on the Todayshow pales in comparison to his crazy-laughing-guy turn in a private Scientology video. He’s since declared that he’s not going to share his Scientologist beliefs with the public, a decision which seems to have boosted box-office returns forValkryie, his latest film. (SOURCE)

Scientologists are not permitted to take aspirins before auditing,{3} or “receive any `treatment’ `guidance’ or `help’ from anyone in the `healing arts’ i.e., physicians or dentists without consent,”{4} except in extreme emergencies when no one in the Church can be reached.{5}But Hubbard’s feelings toward doctors and psychiatrists are a bit ambivalent, because while railing against them, he offers a fifty percent reduction to any doctor or psychiatrist taking a Scientology course.{6} Since Scientologists are not supposed to “mix Scientology with any other practice,” his goal appears to be to get them to become Scientologists.{7}